2023-10-21 23:35:48
2023 Rugby World Cup in FrancedossierA sluggish South Africa beat England 16 to 15, who believed in it until the end, Saturday October 21. The Springboks join New Zealand in the World Cup final.
It’s as if the Suicide Squad had invaded the Stade de France. On the one hand, our historical rivals. The English are playing sluggishly, with Owen Farrell, a cheat among cheats, at the helm. Opposite, our executioners from the previous round. South Africa, its setbacks with the World Anti-Doping Agency, Cheslin Kolbe and his irritating sprints, just like Faf de Klerk’s always impeccable mane. And in the middle, our worst nightmare: Ben O’Keeffe, the referee who, if we are to believe the analyzes leaning at the counter, deprived us of our semi-final in our own World Cup. The French public also spent the game whistling all the decisions of the New Zealander as well as the South African players, making our country – and Thomas Pesquet – for the worst loser in history.
Let’s move on. As the English will soon be passing through the Channel Tunnel. Under the “liquid sun” – a funny expression chosen by the announcer to talk about this very British weather – a sluggish South Africa qualified for the World Cup final by beating the serious but serious English 16 to 15. gave up at the very end.
South Africa unrecognizable
But tonight, all the first times were English. Owen Farrell’s first penalty after recovering the kick-off. The first touch stolen by a jumper in white. Opposite, the South Africans abuse the high candles, a strategy which hurt France so badly in the quarter-final. Except that the English have the good idea to catch the soap in the air. And after another poorly negotiated touch by the Springboks, Owen Farrell adds three points and we wonder if the English have not decided to become good after several years of depression. Symbol of South African frustration, a quarter of an hour into the game, after a new sanction from the referee on a carried ball, the giant Franco Mostert grabs the little Alex Mitchell by the collar before all the big guys come to rub the pectorals as if to compensate for their helplessness in the game.
This is not the same team that we saw eliminate the France team. Beaten on the fundamentals, ineffective on the feet and rarely making the right choices, South Africa seemed lost in the first 20 minutes. Fortunately, Owen Farrell and his still loose tongue allow Manie Libbok to take a penalty in the axis at 40 meters and unlock the sudaf counter. But the English opener that we love to hate scores three in quick succession, always to the boos of a knowledgeable Stade de France.
A sort of admission of tactical failure, the South African staff removed their opener after half an hour of play, replaced by Handre Pollard. A rarity at the very highest level. After a final penalty, the XV de la Rose returned to warm up in the locker room with a six-point lead and the certainty that, contrary to what they had been told, there was room this evening.
The evolution of the English game
While the first semi-final between New Zealand and Argentina had the feel of a group stage with a match without suspense and two teams boxing in very different categories, this meeting between England and South Africa , remake of the 2019 finale, already wanted to be sexier. And, if the English had won three of their last five matches against the South Africans, the Springboks had already defeated the XV de la Rose four times in the World Cup, out of five meetings. But nothing to move the impressive Boks hooker, Bongi Mbonambi, with a cool head like the ice cube that you sometimes crush with your forehead to make your friends laugh. “People say that [les Anglais] want to take their revenge. They are free to watch the match as they want. We don’t play too much on emotions. Emotions last 20 minutes and then you collapse.”
The South African staff, for their part, were keen to welcome the evolution of the English game, less monotonous and ugly today than four years ago. “They have changed a lot in the way they do things,” noted attack coach Mzandile Stick. If we look at the kicking game, they hit almost as much as the French team. We studied their matches, and even against teams like Chile, they kicked around 40 kicks. It illustrates the adjustments they made to their game.” Analysis validated by the first half.
And the start of the second act is of the same ilk, the English abusing a kicking game that is now less precise, until the mammoth drop almost on the halfway line from a fiery Owen Farrell. A few seconds earlier, Willie Le Roux did not run fast enough to catch the ball and flatten it into the English goal. More seconds later, a kick-in is committed on the South African five-meter line. Everything the Springboks achieved against France, they missed against England. Even if the melee that followed saw the English penalized again. Yet another damp squib in a broken match.
Handre Pollard, obviously
But the clock is ticking in favor of the British. They were expecting “a physical match”, they got it. Tom Curry’s bloodied face and injured gait bear witness to this. Not brilliant but serious, the English lead 15 to 6. Until RG Snyman’s try. The imposing second line, who had entered shortly after half-time, collapsed – finally – in the opposing goal and offered his team five points which became seven and, at the same time, immense suspense to the 78,000 spectators at the Stade de France. The scoreboard reads 15-13 with seven minutes to go before the final whistle. Another match which is decided by a hair for the South Africans except that, this time, they are behind.
But Handre Pollard, crowned man of the match, has the ball of victory at the tip of his foot, under the bronca of the Stade de France. And the calves remain firm at almost 50 meters. It’s the 78th minute and South Africa leads for the first time in the match. The rest, we know it. The South African wall, the tears of a Joe Marler who we prefer laughing, a last tension in the center of the field. South Africa is in the World Cup final. She will face New Zealand on October 28. England will not have failed and will have believed in it until the end. Even the French rival, who has still not digested his own elimination, will not be able to laugh at the English tears. The two nations are now linked by grief.
#South #Africa #wins #clash #hated #joins #Blacks #final #Libération